Monday, 12 November 2012

Fountains indicate the importance of horses for Salzburg

The three major fountains of Salzburg: the Residenzbrunnen, the Neptune fountain and the Pferdeschwemme (or horse swimming area) all refer to the importance of horses for the city during the 17th and 18th century. In each fountains you find statues of horses and in two of them a pond where horses could swim or be bathed. Salzburg is the first city we know that has such old horse facilities embedded in there pieces of art.

The Residenzbrunnen at the Residenzplatz next to the Dom of Salzburg is the largest Baroque fountain outside Italy. It was built in 1661 and is made out of the local brown marble. The fountain platform is carried by a few men standing on a pile of stones surrounded by horses in a water pond.

On the other side of the Dom on Kapitelplatz you find the Neptune fountain. This fountain, just like the Pferdeschwemme on Hofstallgasse is a pond where horses could really go into the water for a swim or to be cleaned. The Roman style fountain features Neptune with his seahorse. It was built in the 18th century.